


make this moment last, that's plenty

by Slumber



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Royalty, AtsuHina Week, AtsuHina Week 2020, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24658591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slumber/pseuds/Slumber
Summary: Atsumu is deemed the better swordsman when they are twelve, Osamu the better diplomat when they are thirteen. Though they have the same tutors they spend their fourteenth summer differently: Atsumu is sent to squire for Sir Ojiro, Osamu taken under the Royal Advisor Kita's care.It is that same summer that they return to Miyagi for a second visit.For Day 4 & 5 of AtsuHina Week: Royalty AU and Childhood Friends AU
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Miya Atsumu
Comments: 12
Kudos: 180





	make this moment last, that's plenty

**Author's Note:**

> I hadn't planned on writing anything for AtsuHina week at all, but the idea of combining both these prompts suddenly would not leave me alone, so here's something short and hopefully sweet for it. ♥

Atsumu is seven when he first visits the kingdom of Miyagi. 

Here is what he knows of that first summer there: that it was a diplomatic trip by the royal family of Inarizaki, that his father the king had gone to re-establish alliances with their neighboring kingdom, that his mother the queen had gone to offer symbolic gestures of goodwill and peace, that he and his brother had been brought along to play with the Shiratorizawa family's young prince and the children of the noblemen who pledged loyalty to them.

It had been a long summer, he had been told. His family stayed in court through most of it. Osamu and Atsumu were placed under tutelage of Miyagi's finest instructors to the royals, learning their numbers and letters alongside Miyagi's noble children. At the end of it, they made the long journey back, their kingdom as strong and as peaceful as ever.

Here is what Atsumu remembers of that first summer there: the sun, blindingly hot and scorching as he tried to find shade beneath dappled leaves and among uneven ground. The somber face of a quiet, indifferent prince, the narrowed gaze of a haughty child with a distant claim to the throne, the conspiratorial whispering that stopped whenever he walked in.

Osamu saying, "You're mean, so that's why they're mean back. I won't be like you."

The sun, high and unforgiving, and the flimsy excuse for a forest near the palace grounds that refuse to provide shelter or refuge.

A shock of bright orange hair matching bright hazel eyes that blink up at him, guileless, too close for comfort. "Are you lost?" asked so loud it echoes around them, and then, "C'mon, I can take you back—you don't wanna go back?" 

Atsumu saying, "Not yet," until noon stretches to afternoon to evening, and the summer doesn't feel so very long any longer.

* * *

Atsumu is deemed the better swordsman when they are twelve, Osamu the better diplomat when they are thirteen. Though they have the same tutors they spend their fourteenth summer differently: Atsumu is sent to squire for Sir Ojiro, Osamu taken under the Royal Advisor Kita's care.

It is that same summer that they return to Miyagi for a second visit.

Their parents do not accompany them this time, sending instead a delegation of diplomats to speak for Inarizaki in their stead. Presumably Atsumu and Osamu are part of that delegation, but Atsumu has no interest in diplomacy.

"You can practice for the both of us," Atsumu tells Osamu, patting him on the shoulder just before they are announced to the court.

Osamu rolls his eyes. "And what will you do while I do?"

When Atsumu grins it is mirthless. "Find a better swordsman than me." 

Miyagi is not as Atsumu remembers it—the sun is not so hot, here, and the palace not so big. He is not sure in which direction the forest he'd run away to is. The halls he walks are new, the rooms he passes by foreign and strange. Two young noblemen in animated conversation fall into a sudden hush when they cross paths—the look one of them gives Atsumu is the first jolt of familiarity he feels, but it leaves an unpleasant taste at the back of his mouth, metallic and cold.

It had only been one summer, after all. And it had been so many years ago.

Atsumu happens upon the training grounds by accident, and even the clang of steel against steel sounds nothing at all like the way a dozen young noble children once spent a summer's afternoon banging wooden swords together in mock battle.

He recognizes the prince not by his face but by his royal livery and the Shiratorizawa crest decorating his armor. The weight of obligation and duty weighing around his shoulders, for Osamu's is beginning to look the same. He recognizes the prince's opponent by the haughty gaze that misses no weakness, the aggressive attacks marred by desperation, and pride, and fumbled execution.

"That is enough," the prince says, when the tip of his sword is at his opponent's throat, when his opponent's grip around his own sword only tightens in response. "It is time to yield."

"Perhaps the prince would care to spar with a new opponent?" Atsumu offers then, the first time he announces his presence.

"Prince Atsumu. I have been advised you and your brother were resting after such a long journey."

"The feast to honor us isn't until this evening," Atsumu says breezily, to say nothing of how Osamu's probably already found his way to the royal kitchens as they speak. "You may wait to welcome us officially then. In the meantime, perhaps we may—"

"We're not done yet," the boy at the prince's feet hisses. 

"Tooru—"

"How about me? I'll spar with him, if the prince has current obligations."

Atsumu doesn't need to look to know what he'll see then: Bright hazel eyes. Bright orange hair. Sun-dappled leaves providing just enough shade above them. 

Noon that stretches to afternoon to evening, in a summer he wishes lasted forever.

* * *

Atsumu does not visit Miyagi again. 

It is early in the autumn when he and Osamu turn twenty-one—the weather cooler, the days shorter, the forest canopy surrounding the Inarizaki castle slowly burning red-orange. Though Osamu is usually the deeper sleeper it is he who rouses Atsumu awake that morning, before the sun has even had a chance to slip through the gap between Atsumu's curtains.

"Eager, are we?" Atsumu asks with a lazy yawn. He is not prepared for the feathered pillow thrown at his face in response.

"Ah," he says later, standing beside his brother as they are carefully dressed and fitted in their royal best: Osamu with the colors and coat of arms for the Crown Prince, Atsumu with the livery of a prince born three and a half minutes too late for the burden of ruling a kingdom. "Not eager. Nervous."

"Be quiet," Osamu mutters, the rise of color on his cheeks all the admission Atsumu needs. He says no more, because he has known Osamu all his life, and his patience pays off when Osamu adds, "We have not seen each other in years, that is all."

"Not since you were children, yes. Now she is of age and so are you." And Inarizaki's alliance with Miyagi, already bound by treaties and a generally amicable relationship, would be strengthened by marriage now as well. "Chin up, 'Samu. I have heard she has grown to be a great beauty. And you are lucky enough to share my face, so she will certainly not be disappointed."

Osamu bites down in time to hold back what might have been an undignified snort. "Better me than you, at any rate," he says, and the rigidity around his posture appears to loosen for the time being.

"Now then," Atsumu says, gesturing ahead. "Shall we go and greet our guests?"

They arrive at the receiving hall before the small retinue from Miyagi does. Osamu's back is ramrod straight, every second ticking by pouring tension back along his shoulders. Atsumu notices only because he has nothing else to do, the wait dull and otherwise unremarkable. It's his brother's bride, after all, not his, even as he avoids Sir Ojiro's piercing stare when he notes the way Atsumu's begun to slouch in place.

They hear the footsteps first, from what sounds like a dozen of them. The doors open next, and then the trumpets blare, and the booming voice of a page announces their guests. 

Atsumu straightens up as Osamu's posture eases, palpable relief coursing through his entire being when he lays eyes on his betrothed. "My lady," he murmurs, bowing low. "Welcome to Inarizaki. I hope your journey here was pleasant."

"Prince Osamu. It was long and uneventful, but every mile well worth traveled. There was a run-in with bandits along the way, but it was unfortunate only for the bandits, thanks to my dear friend and the captain of my guard."

Perhaps she has turned out to be a great beauty after all, as the rumors have said. Atsumu cannot ascertain for himself, for among the lady's retinue Atsumu's attention has been caught by a spark of bright hazel eyes. 

"Your guard?"

A shock of bright orange hair.

"Perhaps you remember Lord Shouyou, my prince?"

A day that stretches long into night.

"Yes, of course. Though it is perhaps my brother who remembers you better, Lord Shouyou. Is that not right, Atsumu?"

Summer that arrives early in autumn. 

"Yes. I remember."

And maybe stays even longer.

**Author's Note:**

> BONUS:
> 
> "Shouyou," Yachi tells him after he hops back into the carriage, barely checking to make sure the bandits were securely tied up. She is trying not to smile, but she has never been very good at lying. "If I didn't know better, I would think you are more eager to reach Inarizaki than I am."  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> Thank you for making it all the way here! Kudos and comments are always appreciated ♥ and if you liked what you've read, I've written a handful of [other Haikyuu!! fics](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slumber/works?fandom_id=758208).
> 
> And I'm on [twitter](https://twitter.com/slumberish) if you wanna say hi!


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